December 27th, 2008
Listen: Quicksilver Girl / The Steve Miller Band SteveMillerQuicksilverGirl.mp3
Listen: Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around / The Steve Miller Band SteveMillerDontLetNobodyTurnYouAround.mp3
Listen: Going To The Country / The Steve Miller Band SteveMillerGoingToTheCountry.mp3
They keep coming to me: west coast bands that were guilty pleasures.
Let’s see, there’s Spirit, Mother Earth, Country Joe & The Fish and also The Steve Miller Band. Even the progressive bands tried making commercial singles at the start. Maybe it was record label pressure, maybe not. But they did it. No question, Steve Miller had a knack for hooks. Even later singles, like ‘The Joker’ and ‘Take The Money And Run’ were each like a three minute oasis on Top 40. The above earlier ones never got AM play, but the underground FM’s gave them exposure. Perhaps the role of the 7″ then was to focus the DJ’s on the more pop leaning songs. Seems likely. ‘Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around’ has a guitar line that replicates the vocal line identically. Canned Heat, and a lot of the ‘blues’ bands did this. You just don’t hear that anymore – which is probably for the better. ‘Going To The Country’ was typical lyrical stuff in the late 60′s. Oh dear me, the city is just too much – let’s get out into nature and, uh, be free. Fair enough, it made for something to sing about. Again, guilty pleasure.
Posted in Capitol, Country Joe & The Fish, Mother Earth, Spirit, Steve Miller Band |
December 26th, 2008
Listen: What’s Going On / Taste TasteWhatsGoinOn.mp3
Listen: Railway And Gun / Taste TasteRailway.mp3
The first show I booked as concert chairman at college was Rory Gallagher. I spent all the school’s money on the various English groups I wanted to see: Savoy Brown, Atomic Rooster, The Pretty Things, Chicken Shack, Renaissance, The Incredible String Band. It was a free for all. However, my loyalty to Rory predated this solo career and time period – via his original band, Taste. They made two studio albums. The first, TASTE, was blues rock of a rather irritating quality. The second, ON THE BOARDS, however, was a stunning improvement, and is still a very favorite. Despite my disinterest in pressings from countries other than the US or UK, I made an exception when stumbling on this in a Munich vinyl shop back in ’87. Two tracks from ON THE BOARDS. Nice.
Posted in Atomic Rooster, Chicken Shack, Polydor, Renaissance, Rory Gallagher, Savoy Brown, Taste, The Incredible String Band, The Pretty Things |
December 25th, 2008
Listen: Christmas On Riverside Drive / Kid Creole & The Coconuts KidCreoleChristmasOnRiversideDrive.mp3
Listen: Christmas Wrapping / The Waitresses WaitressesChristmasWrapping.mp3
I couldn’t resist jumping on the Christmas bandwagon, even as I swore I wouldn’t. I guess I’ve been hearing The Waitresses’ ‘Christmas Wrapping’ so much lately. You’d have thought it was given it’s deserved airings when released in ’81, but that was not the case. Seems it’s just oozed into the mainstream, which is just fine. Flawless song and delivery, and some classic lyrics (“Let’s get this winter over with” comes to mind). Like everyone, I have some real holiday favorites: Wizzard, Brenda Lee, The Ramones, The Phil Spector album and Eartha Kitt’s ‘Santa Baby’, but the one nobody mentions is ‘Christmas On Riverside Drive’. Kid Creole & The Coconuts had a perfect two year run back around ’81/’82. The UK ate them up, several singles bobbing in and out of their Top 40, with side projects selling as well (Coati Mundi/Dr. Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band). The whole living color filled tropical sand and palm trees allure was too much for England not to buy into. The live show back then must have been absolutely perfect for the moment. Their seasonal song is unfortunately way below the radar, but captures the greatness of NYC around the holiday to a T. Both singles are from the Ze release, A CHRISTMAS RECORD.
Posted in Brenda Lee, Coati Mundi, Dr. Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band, Eartha Kitt, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Phil Spector, The Ramones, The Waitresses, Wizzard, Ze Records |
December 23rd, 2008
Listen: Listen: Hey Boy Hey Girl / The Chemical Brothers HeyBoyHeyGirl.mp3
How often do you see a 7″ single by The Chemical Brothers? Actually this was the first of two, that I’m aware of. And it’s US only. If ever there was a great night out, it’s at one of their live shows. You almost, like with Kraftwerk, The Ramones, Suicide or The Cramps, need not bother going to see anything else ever again. Well that’s a bit strong, but not far fetched. This also was a favorite call and response number I sparred off with between myself and our daughter Ping when she was about 5, so pretty sentimental. Even though it’s fairly current, and well known, it’s still a great single – and sounds amazingly good in the Seeburg.
Posted in Astralwerks, Kraftwerk, Suicide, The Chemical Brothers, The Cramps, The Ramones |
December 21st, 2008
Listen: Act Naturally / Betty Willis 01 Act Naturally.mp3
In my quest to get all the Phi-Dan singles, this has been the most elusive. Finally snagged it last week and man, was it worth the wait. Although the label was Phil Spector’s, all the releases were not his productions. In fact, Leon Russell took charge on this 1965 single. ‘Act Naturally’ is way better than I was anticipating. It’s over the top RnB meets mock Spector drama, as opposed to a more predictable country rendition. The little known Betty Willis is super hot on this, only her second single in five years, even some of those screeches are forgivable. Great one Betty, I love you.
Listen: Soul / Betty Willis BettyWillisSoul.mp3
Then there’s the B side ‘Soul’. In what appeared to be Phil Spector policy, the flip is a jam – an obvious publishing grab. Remember the disappointment when flipping The Ronettes ‘Be My Baby’ to find ‘Tedesco & Pitman’, a real drag of an instrumental at the time? A solid guess would be this here’s Leon on piano – and God knows who else. Great track though.
Posted in Betty Willis, Leon Russell, Phi-Dan, Phil Spector, The Ronettes |
December 20th, 2008
Listen: Conscious Man / The Jolly Brothers 01 Conscious Man 1.mp3
There’s a story about this record, told to me many times by Duane Sherwood, who knows all there is to know reggae-wise. It forever gets cloudy in my memory, but here goes. There was a period when Lee Perry’s relationship with Island Records in London was going south as they were rejecting many of his submissions, due to the sheer volume of his output. It lead him to burn down his Black Ark studios, but not before making some of the most historic reggae recordings ever. One such rejection was The Congos album, an original Jamaican copy will set you back. It’s been beautifully reissued by Blood & Fire, but you can never replicate the sound of recycled Jamaican deep groove vinyl, hence the quest for the original.
Then there’s this, The Jolly Brothers ‘Conscious Man’. Scratch was so annoyed by Island, he apparently never even offered them The Jolly Brothers master. He just licensed it off to United Artists in England, and it became a hit. For whatever reasons, those early pressings don’t even credit his production, but it only takes one listen.
It was everywhere during an October ’78 London trip, when we’d stayed at Howard’s place in Hammersmith and did the town with him every night. I remember finding the picture sleeved copy at Harlequin Records just off Marble Arch. Never saw another.
Posted in Black Ark, Blood & Fire, Duane Sherwood, Harlequin Records, Howard Thompson, Island, Lee Perry, Reggae, The Jolly Brothers, The Congos |
December 19th, 2008
Listen: Say Something Funny / Patty Duke Say Something Funny.mp3
Listen: Funny Little Butterflies / Patty Duke Funny Little Butterflies From The Motion Picture Billie.mp3
Listen: The Theme From ‘The Patty Duke Show’ Patty Duke Show Theme.mp3
Our close friend Diana went to high school with Patty Duke. It was somewhere around 57th Street in New York. Also in the class was Mary from The Shangri-Las and Miles Davis’ son. They all used to go to his Dad’s apartment after school. How’s that for a childhood experience? Diana remembers it as a rough and weird life for them, the pressure of being TV and recording stars, trying to get through school and having friends because they were liked as people instead of celebrities. I’ll never know.
We all loved The Patty Duke Show though. I couldn’t have been happier when she started making records, and most were issued in nice, full color picture sleeves, like the one above. This was her second single (the first, ‘Don’t Just Stand There’ went Top 10), and both sides charted on Billboard. The divided play was probably the cause for them to cancel each other out a bit, reaching #22 and #77 respectively. There were a few albums as well. Being cast as one of the leads in the film, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, helped her grow up in public and get her out of the TV show’s trench. Logically, she recorded an album for United Artists of all the songs in the film. It’s a must. Search it out at all costs.
Posted in Patty Duke, United Artists, Valley Of The Dolls |
December 18th, 2008
Listen: Nervous System / Killing Joke 01 Nervous System.mp3
There’s something about this first single, I think it’s their best. I seem to remember it being out alongside PIL’s ‘Poptones’. Despite their similarities, found them both to be neck in neck favorites for a good while. Some folks disagree, but it’s obvious they really did have a heavy hand in Industrial.
Posted in Industrial, Island, Killing Joke, PIL |
December 14th, 2008
Listen: First Time / The Boys First Time.mp3
One of the often overlooked punk pop classics. I remember Joey always saying how much he loved this band, and how good they were opening a bunch of UK dates for The Ramones in ’77. Not sure what happened, seems they had that initial blast of great singles, and really good debut album, then clunk. Shame. ‘First Time’ is right up there.
Posted in Joey Ramone, NEMS, The Boys, The Ramones |
December 13th, 2008
Listen: Hey Joe (You Shot Your Woman Down) / Tim Rose 01 Hey Joe (You Shot Your Woman Down).mp3
According to some, it’s this Tim Rose arrangement and slow version of ‘Hey Joe’ that manager Chas Chandler brought to his band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, as a template for their recording.
I played Tim’s version recently, and thought I’d do some research. By the way, the fast, jangled, garage band version popularized by The Leaves is not part of this discussion.
Listen: Hey Joe / The Creation 20 Hey Joe.mp3
Tim Rose, Hendrix and The Creation all did the slow, haunting one, full of mystery. In my research travels, I read that Chas and Jimi may have, in fact, gotten their idea from The Creation, who were playing this arrangement of ‘Hey Joe’ in London clubs late ’66, exactly when Hendrix and Chandler entered the studio to record that first single. Although The Creation never released a 7″ of ‘Hey Joe’, it was an album track, which I’ve posted.
Listen: Hey Joe (Single Mono Mix) / The Jimi Hendrix Experience 01 Hey Joe.mp3
Also for reference, I’ve posted the original mono single mix from The Jimi Hendrix Experience above. This version is the one you know, but that mono mix is magic. Even though this original copy has been played hundreds of times, the record still sounds larger than life.
My introduction to ‘Hey Joe’ was indeed via the Tim Rose rendition. Interestingly, the songwriting is credited differently on all three labels above (click to enlarge). Somehow, this was a hit on my hometown station, WOLF (see chart). Check my past posts for a look at what great music this station played. I hate to say they may have been one of the last great US radio stations. Scary.
The story of ‘Hey Joe’ is full of twists and turns, and now with so many participants deceased, one of great myth.
Read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Joe
Posted in Columbia, Polydor, Reprise, The Creation, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Tim Rose, WOLF |
December 12th, 2008
Listen: Heaven / Joan Armatrading 08 Heaven.mp3
Joan Armatrading: she just scared off all the competition. Proof: still going strong after 30 plus years. And not only musically, she recently ran the NY marathon, 26 miles. Tracy Chapman, who has made some of my favorite singles, coincidentally had a similar sounding voice and songwriting approach, but Joan is Joan. ‘Heaven’ is a favorite, which she finally played live, some 24 years after it’s release, on the US summer ’07 dates. We all lost it. Bless her.
Posted in Joan Armatrading, Tracy Chapman |
December 9th, 2008
Listen: Gabbin' Blues / Big Maybelle 2-11 Gabbin Blues.mp3
I love Big Maybelle. She’s way up there on that list of singers I wish I’d seen before she passed. ‘Gabbin’ Blues’ is the one that got me into her. It’s raw, racey and funny. There’s so much history to catch up on – go to Wikipedia to get started. Her Okeh material is pretty flawless. Great voice, great sense of humor too. She must’ve been a real firecracker.
This is from a nice promotional only vinyl EP Sony did to market their Okeh Records box set back in ’93. Very beautifully done, and a collectable in it’s own right today.
Posted in Big Maybelle, Okeh |
December 7th, 2008
Listen: St. James Infirmary / Cops 'N Robbers 23 St. James Infirmary.mp3
Listen: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue / Cops 'N Robbers 01 Its All Over Now Baby Blue.mp3
Listen: Get Yourself Home / The Fairies 21 Get Yourself Home.mp3
Cops ‘N Robbers ‘St. James Infirmary’ always felt authentic, probably because of that reverb wash. From the first listen, it captured my imagination about the damp seedy blues clubs of London’s Soho, sitting nicely beside the sound of The Downliners Sect or Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds. Plus it was a UK Decca release, hence it’s US issue through sister label, Parrot. With Brian “Smudger” Smith on lead vocals, how can you go wrong? Young “Smudger” (he insisted on the quotes) went on to sing for The Fairies thereby delivering the great Pretty Things mimic ‘Get Yourself Home’. Meanwhile, in what was clearly fair exchange, The Fairies vocalist Dane Stephens made the switch and became Cops ‘N Robbers singer, recording ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ with them for UK Pye/US Coral, nicely retaining their London nightlife aura. Meanwhile drummer Henry Harrison proceeded to form The New Vaudeville Band. Yes much aloof upward nose turning is pointed them, but listen again – they clearly had a lot in common with The Bonzo Dog Band, recording some terrific singles which will be posted soon as proof.
Posted in Chris Farlowe, Cops 'N Robbers, Coral, Decca, Parrot, Pye, The Bonzo Dog Band, The Downliners Sect, The Fairies, The New Vaudeville Band, The Pretty Things |
December 6th, 2008
Listen: Continental Mind / Ernestine Anderson ErnestineContinentalMind.mp3
A traditional jazz vocalist from the get go, she fell nicely into the mid 60′s Mod scene due in no small part to her association with Sue Records. Guy Stevens ran this Island imprint for Chris Blackwell and it’s catalog was flawless, focusing on the raw and brazen US RnB/smokey keyboard jazz stuff of the day. Years later, this one would be considered trendy bachelor pad fare. At 80 years old, she still performs – and will be in New York Feb 9-14. Do yourself a favor, check out this footage:
Posted in Chris Blackwell, Ernestine Anderson, Guy Stevens, Island, Sue Records |
December 5th, 2008
Listen: The Stumble / Love Sculpture LoveSculptureTheStumble.mp3
An air guitar classic waiting to be. Obviously, Dave Edmunds was a very flash player from the start. Like just about everyone else at the time, he began his professional career in a, you guessed it, blues rock combo. I had a real spot for Love Sculpture, remember seeing them scheduled to play The Fillmore East and wanted badly to go. Couldn’t, thus not sure if they ever made it over.
Listening back to that first album, BLUES HELPING, from which this single comes, the vocals are very white and don’t really fly. Now I see why purists hated these bands. But the album holds a marker sentimentally, and clearly their playing was pretty spot on, as is obvious from this instrumental cover of Freddie King’s ‘The Stumble’.
Love Sculpture’s next album, FORMS & FEELINGS, included their big UK hit, ‘Sabre Dance’, coincidentally also an instrumental, showing off more of Dave Edmunds’ virtuosity. Dave eventually found his footing in rockabilly and jangly pop, where he recorded some classics, all lined up for a later post.
Posted in Dave Edmunds, Love Sculpture, Parlophone |
December 4th, 2008
Listen: Omaha / Moby Grape MobyGrapeOmaha.mp3
When recalling the handful of US 60′s bands I appreciated (at the time that is, I was still pretty buzzed on the British Invasion, it was us-against-them mentality), I always forget Moby Grape. They were a bit wooly looking, yet had a nice splash of psychedelia thrown in, especially on ‘Omaha’ (from their debut LP, MOBY GRAPE), thereby completely tolerable. Initially I probably liked the name and idea of Moby Grape better than Moby Grape themselves. Surprisingly, many UK bands tipped them, with some, like The Move, actually covering their songs live. When the second album, WOW, came out, I felt the compelling urge to buy it. Like Pink Floyd’s UMMAGUMMA, it was a double record, but priced as a single – that helped. The second disc was a jam, and featured Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, both well respected….jammers. Let’s be honest, I don’t think anyone got through it more than once, although we all claimed to have. The first disc however had some proper songs in there. It was all very Dennis Hopper. The psychedelic angle had vanished but their dark, cold sound increased nicely – and the vocals were a big attraction. In the end, a top rock group.
Posted in Al Kooper, Columbia, Mike Bloomfield, Moby Grape, The Move, The Pink Floyd |
December 2nd, 2008
Listen: Lightning Blue Eyes / Secret Machines SecretMachinesLightningBlueEyes.mp3
Christmas 2004. I finally had a few weeks off and planned to catch up on a bunch of new records I’d been meaning to get to since November. For a few years, I made it a point of stopping at the original HMV store on Oxford Street every London visit. Luckily, I looked after a bunch of Columbia’s UK acts, and ended up there about four times a year. No one else would touch the English groups. Our chairman didn’t like the UK stuff, so they were hot potatoes. HMV really jumped on the vinyl resurgence curve early. Well before any of the other chains. Then and now, the purists put their nose in the air to the place but I say they’re wrong. HMV stocks all the indie and worthy major label 7″ singles at cheap prices, usually 99p week of release. And the vinyl portion of the floor is set up famously, just like a record shop in the day. The 45 wall is nirvana, with box lot size helpings of just about everything. I would grab tons of titles and listen later. So that Christmas break I allocated time. I’m pouring over the first two Secret Machines singles I’d gotten that month earlier but still hadn’t played, and notice Brandon and Ben Curtis were in the lineup. Hold on, these guys were in UFOFU, a band I had released on The Medicine Label. It had to be the same guys. So I listened. Wow, they’re great. I’d heard their name a lot, mostly from the junior A&R kids at Columbia. What a great bunch they were, especially Keller and later Christian Stavros. I had wrongly assumed Secret Machines were alternative radio fodder, formula hard rock. No. This was the real deal. I went out on Christmas Eve and got the full length. As if by magic, I had a new band to be crazy about. How fun.
Now it was countdown to an upcoming show and sure enough, they were awesome. I was so pleased to see Brandon and Ben getting their just rewards. I turned some friends on to them as well. Everyone was in. Brandon came by Columbia just before Christmas ’05 and played me the new album. A few songs really stood out, ‘Lightning Blue Eyes’ in particular. All of them were pretty long. I remember we talked about some singles edit, and he went off to try a few. This was one, and it’s a smash waiting to happen. Don’t think it got much play, but I could be wrong.
No matter, Secret Machines shredded the tent at Reading the following August. The place was rammed. The crowd went berserk.
I’m making an exception by posting ‘Lightning Blue Eyes’. You see, it’s only available as a blue see through glittery reeking of some marketing angle pressing. I hate colored vinyl. Should be illegal, a controlled substance. Records should be black, just like God created them. For this single though, an exception.
Posted in Andrew Keller, Chrisitan Stavros, Columbia, HMV Store - Oxford Street, Medicine Label, Reading Festival, Reprise, Secret Machines, UFOFU |
December 1st, 2008
Listen: Respect / Deborah & The Puerto Ricans DeborahRespect.mp3
Deborah made her debut as The Flying Lizards’ vocalist. Needless to say, she had a certain style and stuck to it. Kinda like Nico but without the heroin. She could cover just about any song and it would have you in stitches. I’m not sure if she took herself seriously. For the record, I still can’t get enough of the singles. This one featured The Puerto Ricans, who I believe were actually one guy: Dennis Bovell. He’d produced a lot of Linton Kwesi Johnson’s records, maybe all of them. Sounds like he wanted to sidestep the politics and have some fun. Unfortunately, there was no followup. And this may have been her final hour.
Posted in CBS, Deborah & The Puerto Ricans, Dennis Bovell, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Nico, The Flying Lizards |
November 29th, 2008
Listen: I'm A King Bee / Slim Harpo I_m A King Bee.mp3
Slim Harpo, real name: James Moore, might as well have been granted a patent on mid 60′s electric blues. Yeah yeah, there were a bunch of great players then, definitely Jimmy Reed, Freddie King, etc, so it’s admittedly a personal pick. His calm voice sat suggestively in every song and those lyrical double entendres were a riot. This one takes the cake. The Rolling Stones recorded a superb version for their first album, so it was nice to find the original was even sleazier. No surprise it was not a commercial hit, but certainly it’s a classic, one of the many of examples written about in THE LONG TAIL.
Posted in Excello, Freddie King, James Moore, Jimmy Reed, Slim Harpo, The Rolling Stones |
November 28th, 2008
Listen: Goodbye Little Boy / The Triffids 04 Goodbye Little Boy.mp3
Credit goes to Blondie for introducing the 60′s girl group sound to the next generation. There are so many moments when a band just can’t resist letting it all hang out, and going retro for the fun of it. Everyone from Billy Joel (‘Uptown Girls’) to Personal Effects (‘End Of The World’) have done it flawlessly. So did The Triffids with ‘Goodbye Little Boy’. They were signed to Island when I worked for the label, and made a couple of great albums, both embarrassingly ignored in the US, but getting much traction in the UK and of course in their native Australia. They played NY one time, and were super great. Really fun people too. I just loved them. This one-off sounding throwback sat perfectly on their BLACK SWAN album, although sounding nothing like the other tracks. Please search it out – very worth owning.
Posted in Billy Joel, Blondie, Island, Personal Effects, The Triffids |
